Torrington Residents To Offer Design Ideas

Focus on Business

TORRINGTON — What does downtown Torrington need to get it back on its feet?

Citizens will be asked to offer answers to that question as a design team begins developing a master plan for downtown Torrington.

Some city officials began offering answers to that question last week when they met with the three men who will lead the process: Vince Ferrandino of Ferrandino & Associates Inc. of Elmsford, N.Y., Mark E. Strauss, an architect with Jambhekar Strauss of New York City, and Walter B. Mahony III, an architect with Vollmer Associates of New York City.

Ferrandino and his team were hired by the Main Street Action Team in May. They've been at work since June collecting information they'll use in their study and ultimate proposal. The plan will include infrastructure improvements, a marketing plan for downtown and a plan for parking and traffic, Ferrandino said.

Some of the answers to the question are relatively obvious. Any revitalization plan needs to take advantage of the city's arts institutions, such as the Warner Theatre, Artwell and the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts. A plan also needs to incorporate local attractions, including Christmas Village, the Christmas House, Fuessenich Park, the Naugatuck Railroad, and events like the Tour de Torrington bicycle race, the 3- on-3 basketball tournament and car shows.

Citizens will have an opportunity to offer their views during a public meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 3, at the Vogel-Wetmore Elementary School. Focus groups will also be assembled to tackle various issues.

One critical issue that emerged during Thursday's discussion was linking people and businesses in different parts of the city.

Fire Chief Mark Johnson said merchants from the north and south ends, Winsted Road and upper East Main Street need to be made part of the process.

``They need to see and understand they're going to reap a benefit down the road from this vitality,'' Johnson said.

Local architect Mike Boe agreed. ``If downtown is strong, then there's a spinoff,'' he said. ``People have to go through the north end to get downtown.''

Strauss agreed. He said there are several shopping areas throughout the city, but there is little cooperation.

``Because you have all these different sectors working in isolation, there isn't much linkage,'' Strauss said. The areas, as well as any new development, such as outlet shops downtown, have to be linked, he said.

In the short-term, it's important to develop a coordinated effort to get people downtown for special events and other activities, Strauss said. He cited Baltimore, which underwent a rebirth of its waterfront. Efforts to get people downtown began before development efforts, he said.

``Before it was nice. They had festivals to bring people to the waters edge,'' Strauss said. ``It developed into a niche.''

Johnson agreed, but said, ``There's got to be a focus to coordinate that kind of thing.'' He cited events like the Taste of Torrington, which attracted hundreds of people, but then fell apart.

Mike Boe, a local architect, said a new committee is working to develop similar events, including a new Taste of Torrington.

There are other problems Torrington needs to contend with, including rundown buildings in and near downtown, Johnson said. While the buildings provide needed housing for low and moderate income people, they are ``not desirable to people the city wants to attract,'' Johnson said.

Many downtown buildings, Johnson added, have vacant upper floors. In many cases they're vacant because they don't adhere to fire codes and building owners don't have the money for upgrades.

Some of the businesses occupying storefronts ought to be on upper floors, he said. But they can't go up because of code compliance problems, he said.

Strauss agreed, but said that issue is something that can be dealt with by increasing demand for the downstairs spaces. If street-level spaces are full, that gets people to think about upper floors.

Although locals might not see it, Torrington has a lot to offer. There are several first-rate restaurants and popular attractions such as Christmas Village.

Some asked why Torrington and the region can't attract tourists the way the Berkshires and the far northwest corner do.

``To sell ourselves like the Berkshires do, I don't think it's ever dawned on us,'' Johnson said. ``We accept that as a way of life and haven't figured out how we can make money off it.''

Johnson even offered a potential sales slogan to attract people seeking a Berkshires-like refuge from the big city: ``Just as nice and a helluva a lot closer.''

Ferrandino plans to have a draft of his plan circulating by January and a final product by the end of February.

People who have ideas or views about downtown Torrington need not wait until the Sept. 3 meeting. Strauss urged anyone with ideas to write them down and send them to the Main Street Action Team. Ideas can be mailed to City Planner Dan McGuinness, City Hall, 140 Main St., Torrington, CT 06790. McGuinness is aiding the planners.